In the first edition of Florida Megatrends, David Colburn and Lance deHaven-Smith revealed the state for what it is: a bellwether for the nation. The intervening years have only confirmed their analyses, as Florida and the U.S. have been battered and transformed by the housing collapse, the great economic recession that began in 2008, record-high gas prices, withering tourism, the 2004 hurricane season, and much more. This completely revised and updated edition brings the story up...

The books in the Florida and the Caribbean Open Books Series demonstrate the University Press of Florida’s long history of publishing Latin American and Caribbean studies titles that connect in and through Florida, highlighting the connections between the Sunshine State and its neighboring islands. Books in this series show how early explorers found and settled Florida and the Caribbean. They tell the tales of early pioneers, both foreign and domestic. They examine topics critical to the a...

Africans participated in all the Spanish explorations and settlements in Florida, as they did throughout the Spanish Americas. In Florida they helped establish St. Augustine and the free black community of Gracia Real de Santa Teresa de Mose. Africans and African Americans fought in the many conflicts that wracked Florida, including the three Seminole Wars and the Civil War.Despite the oppressions of slavery and segregation, black Floridians struggled to establish their own communi...